To Live and Let Live in Greece
Now I am back on the Cruise Europa of MINOAN. We are on our return trip to Ancona. Departure at Patras was on time at 5.30 p.m. As opposed to the way out, it went according to plan that we had a stop-over at Igouminitsa shortly before midnight. From there, we went directly to Ancona where the expected arrival was 2.00 p.m. (Greek time 3.00 p.m.).
A few months ago, when we made the reservation, it was not possible to get a cabin. So we had hoped to get one on check-in at Patras. As it turned out, that hope was in vain. Not a chance – everything was booked.
Consequently, we changed our plans to the version “deck passage“ and fetched our cots, iso-mats and sleeping bags from deep down in the ship in our VW bus. Along with our small tent.
In Patras, the ship was still really empty. Boarding went pretty fast and we were able to secure a beautiful, wind-free place on Deck7 backboard where we pitched our ”pop-up tent“. A beautiful “cabin with balcony” and “ocean view”.
In Igouminitsa, the ship got really crowded. Masses of people went on board. It was said that the additional passengers numbered more than 2,000. Probably due to this enormous influx, the ship departed for Patras more than one hour late.
We saw different nationalities. Among them many huge families. They lie everywhere: under the sky as well as along the stairs. Now every nook and cranny on the ship is occupied. Persons of the Islamic persuasion are the majority.
Our small tent is an island in the middle of an ocean of people. They lie all around us and sleep on the ground. Quite simple. Huge families huddle together on a woolen blanket. It really looks rather charming.
How do these people live, what are their occupations and emotions? Where are they going on this journey? What are their hopes and wishes and which of those will they be able to fulfill? And how many dreams will, again, remain nothing but dreams.
Yet I get the impression that all the people lying around us are quite industrious. Basically, they all want one thing: earning enough money with their work to be able to afford a minimum of luxury.
Here you see the sign indicating Gyhtio’s only antiquity
And I am reminded of the country I was again given the chance to experience for two weeks rather intently. Of its inhabitants. Compared with the countries of origin of most of our fellow travellers, the Greeks live in a country of luxury.
But there are some things I cannot understand:
For instance, I am now sure that there is actually a deposit on the Greek beer bottles. They are worth 0,14 €.
Compared with the ”Augustiner“ bottle at home, this is not really cheap, is it?. Except nobody seems to be aware of it in this country. Or else nobody is interested. Because they lie around all over the place. Sometimes dozens of them kerbside – beer bottles made of glass.
Nobody bothers to collect them. Regardless of the fact that there are quite a few poor people in this country. In Greece, it is not fashionable to collect bottles for the deposit. But it is also difficult. The habit of handing back deposit bottles does not exist. The lady at the cashier’s desk does not understand. Some way or other, getting the deposit money back seems to be politically incorrect. It is not something you do.
Shortly before departure, in Patras, in the huge supermarket EURO-STAR right next to the Southern Harbour from where the great ferries depart for the Mediterranean, I even saw a bottle-return machine. Except that I never saw a single person using it.
As far as waste is concerned, the situation probable improved a little. It seems that towns like Gythio are now trying to look a little cleaner. Even the “ANCIENT THEATRE” is now waste-free. Including the beautiful long descent into the harbour town. The piles of waste in the middle of nature actually seem to grow a little slower.
As far as obesity is concerned, the Greeks can well hold a torch to their European and US-American contemporaries. They might even hold one of the top ranks there. It seems like exercise is considered the natural enemy of humans in this country.
But Greece is not alone in this respect. On our bike tours, we often meet with approval and goodwill. Car drivers sound their horns and lift their thumbs in appreciation, as a general rule holding a burning cigarette between their fingers. Sometimes, however, our behaviour is looked upon with total incomprehension.
Apropos smoking. It seems like there is really a lot of smoking going on in this country. Basically, I cannot think of a single Greek vacation friend who is a non-smoker. That is especially true for women. Even the pregnant women I saw smoked. Well, wouldn’t it be interesting to see a few medical statistics?
How the entire country is supposed to function economically is also an enigma to me. This year, I did not go to Athens. But it sounds logical to me that these kinds of mega cities have problems and that they can certainly not be the motor of growth in an economy.
In the country, however, nothing happens at all. Well, what would you expect to happen, anyway? You can hardly see anything like medium-sized enterprises, either. To be sure, the super markets are swarming with customers. Food such as fruit, vegetables, fish and meat are usually of the highest quality. But other than that, nothing goes. A few small farmers offer their products next to the streets, thereby earning an honest living.
The country is empty. In the small towns and villages, the majority of the population are elderly. “Lowly” tasks are usually not done by Greeks. On our campground, too, it was people from Tunesia and Macedonia who did the cleaning. The waste collectors in Gythio were also certainly not Greek. If they really tried to make tourism the “general saviour”, the first problem would probably be where to get the service personnel.
Unfortunately, I noticed the most profound difference between now and the last few years when we drove back to the ferry. The nearer we were to Patras, the more “Indian“ everything looked. At the rest stop, sinister looking salespersons are lurking. When you are on the way from your car to the toilet, you are bombarded with “You friend, special offer”. Near every traffic light you approach you will see beggars of all age groups. Fortunately, though, they do not look quite as terribly handicapped and amputated as in India.
And whenever you have to stop due to traffic, you have to fear another stupid front pane wiper will come and try to serve you. Some way or other, this is the perverted form of what we call “service-oriented society”.
And whenever I open my purse, I notice what low-quality paper the money bills are made of in this country. As a general rule, the € bills have the same texture as the tattered rupees in India.
As we depart Patras, a thunderstorm starts to brew. I take a picture of the dark clouds over Patras. They might well also be symbolic.
RMD
(Translated by EG)
P.S.
We arrive in Ancona one hour late around 3.00 p.m. Debarkation was a strenuous and chaotic affair the like of which I seldom experienced before. The debarking cars went directly across the path of the embarking cars of another ship. Consequently, our VW bus was not off the ship before 4.30 p.m. Then there was a traffic jam through Ancona and one along the entire motorway to Bologna. So we arrived in Bologna at a time I had hoped I would already be lying in my bed at home. And then, to make matters worse, a spring of our bus broke.
But it went on nicely, just like our drivers, who took turns at regular intervals. Finally, I was back home at 4 a.m. this morning: tired but content.
Our ship: the CRUISE EUROPA was built in 2009. But considering its youth, it was in rather poor condition. I do not think it will remain in functioning condition as long as the totally desolate but rather old Clodia of tirrenia. That was the ship we sailed in from Cagliari to Civitavecchio last Easter.
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